T'way Air, a South Korean low-cost carrier, said Monday it will open an Incheon-Sydney route in December as pent-up travel demand is unleashed amid eased virus curbs.

T'way Air will provide four flights a week between Incheon, 27 kilometers west of Seoul, and Sydney starting Dec. 23, the company said in a statement.

In February 2020, T'way Air became the country's first budget carrier to obtain the rights to offer flights on the Incheon-Sydney route dominated by the country's two full-service carriers, Korean Air Lines Co. and Asiana Airlines Inc., the statement said.

T'way Air has 30 chartered passenger jets -- three A330-300s and 27 B737-800s -- to offer flights mainly on routes to Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Guam, Saipan and the Philippines.

"We are currently offering flights at only 30 percent of the pre-pandemic level," a company spokeswoman said. (Yonhap)